Ultraleap Goes Smaller, Lighter, and Higher-Resolution with the New Leap Motion Controller 2

Ultraleap, the company behind the hand-tracking Leap Motion camera system, has announced the launch of its second-generation version — a decade after the original hit the market, bringing with it reductions in size and weight along with a larger field of view.

"As we unveil the smaller, lighter, better Leap Motion Controller 2, we celebrate a decade of pioneering advancements in hand tracking technology," says Ultraleap's co-founder and chief executive Tom Carter. "This latest generation builds upon the strong foundation laid by its predecessor and reconfirms our commitment to providing our global community of developers and creators with the world’s best hand tracking technology."

“The Leap Motion Controller 2 not only represents the culmination of our journey so far but also enables a future where natural interaction becomes the norm," Carter continues. "We are excited to share this next iteration with the world and continue breaking down the barriers between physical and digital worlds. We thank everyone who has helped us get to this point."

Since its launch in 2013 the Leap Motion hand-and-finger-tracking controller has found a home in a range of projects — from an Arduino-powered replacement for HTC's Vive Controllers to providing hand tracking for augmented reality systems, skin-based touch control interfaces, surgical robots, and even automatically interpreting and translating sign language.

The Leap Motion 2 is a very similar device, again aimed at tracking the user's hands and fingers in free space — but includes a range of improvements. A big one for those looking to integrated the technology into portable projects and robotics systems is size: the Leap Motion 2 is nearly a third smaller than the original, and comes with the promise of a 25 per cent drop in power consumption. Despite this, the company is also claiming a larger 160×160° field if vision, a 43" maximum tracking distance, and increased camera resolution.

While Ultraleap may have struggled to find quality use-cases for the original version at launch, the company is clear it has a key market in mind this time around: extended reality (XR). To that end, the company has also announced a headset mount which is claimed to offer "easy attachment to many different XR headset designs," while the hardware ships with plugins for both the Unity and Unreal 3D engines alongside Ultraleap's own LeapC application programming interface (API).

The Leap Motion 2 is now available to pre-order on the RobotShop website, priced at $139; the headset mount is an additional $19. The hardware is expected to ship in late July, the company has confirmed.